FG to equip 200 Oyo youths with tools to start businesses

The Federal Government has unveiled plans to equip 200 youths in Oyo State with vocational skills and start-up tools as part of efforts to move young Nigerians from skills acquisition to actual enterprise creation.

The beneficiaries will be trained in graphics/artificial intelligence (AI), make-up and fashion designing under the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy (NPRGS), with each participant receiving the tools required to begin or expand a business after the training.

The programme, being implemented through the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Education (OSSAP-TVEE), will run from September 28 to October 9, 2026, beginning with Oyo State.

Under the arrangement, graphics/AI trainees will receive laptops, make-up trainees will be provided with fully equipped make-up kits, while fashion designing trainees will receive sewing machines and starter kits.

The Federal Government said the initiative would subsequently be replicated across the six geopolitical zones to widen access to practical skills, equipment and sustainable livelihood opportunities for young Nigerians.

The programme will culminate in a graduation and grand finale on October 9, when 500 tablets will also be distributed to young Nigerians as part of the government’s digital empowerment drive.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Education, Dr Abiola Arogundade, said the initiative was designed to equip young people with practical and marketable skills as well as the means to deploy them economically.

She said the programme reflected the government’s focus on skills development and entrepreneurship as pathways to greater economic participation and improved livelihoods among young Nigerians.

The Oyo phase will therefore combine classroom and practical training with direct provision of productive assets, giving beneficiaries the opportunity to transition from learning a trade to establishing or expanding an enterprise.

The Federal Government said the intervention, through the NPRGS, was part of broader efforts to support skills development and entrepreneurship while creating sustainable livelihood opportunities for Nigerian youths.